reflections
June 1st, 2007 The Draft (Part 2)

If the Heat do not take one of the previously mentioned guards, the other position that needs to be adressed is the big man spot. While the franchise has already invested money in Udonis Haslem as their future Power Forward, there is still some huge question marks in the Heat’s post players. We all now that Alonzo Mourning and Shaquille O’Neal will not be here forever, so the Heat could be looking to improve their post game instead of their PG position.

The Heat do have some young guys at the bigman spots. The Heat already have their starting PF spot covered with Udonis Haslem but what about the back-up role. Do we really expect Antoine Walker to hold that spot forever? Should we really put all our chips on Wayne Simien, who while might be a great kid has been plagued by injuries since he started in this league? At C, Shaq and Mourning will both be gone in a few years, do we really expect Earl Barron to be the guy when they leave? I think not. Here are some guys they might look at with pick number 20:

Josh McRoberts

While we do need a big man and Josh McRoberts will be picked around where the Heat are, I dont think McRoberts is the answer to our problems. With haslem at PF, McRoberts has nowhere to play, he is too slow to play SF and doesnt have the post game of an NBA Center. While McRoberts could turn out to be a solid ballplayer in the NBA, I dont think he fits in where the Heat need him.

Tiago Splitter

Tiago Splitter, who is slightly bigger than Josh McRoberts, could be a better fit than Josh for the Heat. I am not completely sold on Splitter as he is said to be weak both mentally and physically and is also injury-prone. Splitter however, has a nice scoring touch around the paint and if he puts on some weight and adds muscle, he could become a pretty good Center.

Marc Gasol

Marc Gasol, brother of NBA Star Pau Gasol, is another big man who could be interesting come draft day. While Marc is not much of an athlete he is very big and strong. Gasol has great upper body strangth and can establish himself as a good offensive threat in the paint. It seems all he needs to become a great player is to improve his conditioning and footwork.

I would rather see the Heat take a Point Guard with their pick, but it is important to look at all the options in this draft. After all, this could be a very important pick in the future of the Heat.

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